The Renaissance provided the key to unlock the door to free the human mind. The Enlightenment opened the door and armed that free mind with reason. What followed was the making of life on earth progressively more wonderful. It was like watching popcorn pop. However, the dark forces of anti-reason gathered like a plague throughout Europe and leapt to America to end the Enlightenment, and the dark forces prevailed through the 20th century right down to today. But, their time is up. A new Enlightenment has begun, releasing the power of the human being to follow his reason and never letting the dark forces prevail again. Our job is to be a part of that new Enlightenment, which is just about the most exciting thing we have ever done.

CAUTION: You can run from reality, try to hide from reality, try to fake reality, and try to make reality be what it is not--BUT REALITY ALWAYS WINS IN THE END.

Emailing the President, Senators, Representatives

StatCounter TNE

AMERICANS: STOP LIVING DEFENSIVELY!

JIHAD THIS, BABY!

So far, Muslims have their greatest victory over us by making us shift into defensive living with regard to them. We tread with fear of "offending" them, of inciting world-wide riots by Muslims against us, and of always trying to curry favor with irrationalists. We used to go about life, guided by our own thoughts and desires, and no defensiveness. It is our fault that we let them dominate our behavior. STOP IT! Americans do not live defensively! Let savages fear us!

HUMAN POWER = IDEA POWER

Ideas power men. Men power cultures. Cultures power civilizations. Civilizations power history. Ideas are the fuel of man's mind.

It is not a question of whether man chooses to be guided by [philosophy]: he is not equipped to live without it. (Ayn Rand)

History is philosophy teaching by example (Lord Bolingbroke)

The trouble with nations is that there is an unequal distribution of capitalism. (Rush Limbaugh)

Shake off all the fears of servile prejudices, under which weak minds are servilely crouched. Fix reason firmly in her seat, and call on her tribunal for every fact, every opinion. Question with boldness even the existence of God; because, if there be one, he must more approve of the homage of reason than that of blindfolded fear. (Thomas Jefferson)

Thursday, 06 July 2006

Alter Egos

All day, talking heads all over the news have been wringing their hands about North Korea and its recent demonstration of rocketry. In no time, each head morphs into hand-wringing about Iran. Opinions about causal explanations vary as widely as do opinions about what to do about any of this.

About the only choices we have come down to deciding whether we want our war(s) now or later with these regimes.

What is driving all of this? On stage are alternating puppet shows: The Kim Jong Il Show followed by the Mullah Ahmadinejad Show. Why are these regimes acting so high, mighty, and haughty?

What lets these minor entities think they are King Kongs?

North Korea is the alter ego for China, and Iran is the alter ego for Russia. By the way, where did all that Communism go, other than to our universities, press, and Democrats? North Korea is the way that the Red Chinese can act out what is really on their mind, with absolutely no danger of losing face. The same can be said of Iran and Neo-Communist Russia.

China and Russia can batter us one way, then another, via their proxies while sitting around the fabulously effective U.N. Security Council table and dispassionately pulling their beards and proferring the wisdom of talk, talk, talk, talk, talk, talk... Their pip squeaks can give us wedgies (Europe may not notice its wedgies), and even risk warring with us. China and Russia would stay out of the warring--at least directly, of course--but not support us, while we expend blood and treasure--and they accrue wealth and status.

What North Korea and what Iran might do creates far fewer worries than whether we have any backbone left. We sure as hell have no proper leadership judging from Afghanistan and Iraq.

The inevitability of war may well hang on that infamous Law of Unintended Consequences. If China and Russia unleash their pit bulls, thing may get really desperate. Then, desperation may visit China and Russia. There is no way to know right now.

Companion website to blog "Brushfires of Freedom". In-depth analyses of global topics and trends as they impact the USA, philosophical issues of critical importance to matters such as the War with Islam, and the internal cultural rot of America. Publishes 4 - 6 times a year for new material. Some authors are not Objectivists, but all provide very valuable materials.

(Cubed). Focuses on principles and facts behind the present collapse of American education, particularly in the K - 12 range, and presents what might be and ought to be in schools, from an Objectivist orientation.